Paul Budde

Paul Budde is the CEO of Paul Budde Consulting, an independent consultancy company. Paul specialises in the strategic planning of government and business innovation and transformation around the digital, sharing and interconnected economy, resulting in the building of smart cities and smart communities (including e-health, e-education, smart grids, smart transport and digital media).

Since his arrival in Australia in 1983, he has provided management consultancy services in the Asia Pacific region. During that period, he established BuddeComm, the largest telecommunications research site on the internet. In 2017 he successfully sold this company to French-based Ubiquick, which operates the company under the existing name. Paul now continues his consultancy business.

He was the adviser to the Minister for Broadband in Australia in relation to strategy and policy developments of the original National Broadband Network. He has been involved as an adviser in discussions on the national interest concept of smart infrastructure during meetings in the White House and with the FCC, the United Nations and the governments of the Netherlands, Australia, Britain, Qatar, Ireland and New Zealand.

He was the co-initiator of the UN Broadband Commission for Digital Development, and subsequently became special adviser to that organisation. He was also the lead author of a report, Broadband – A Platform for Progress, which was presented to the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

He is a director of the Global Smart City and Community Coalition (GSC3), was the founder of Smart Grid Australia, is an advisor to the Australian Smart Communities Association and a founding board member of the Global Smart Grid Federation.

Paul has advised over 50 local councils in Australia on how to best develop smart city strategies. He has presented keynote addresses at conferences in Washington, Houston, Amsterdam, London, Milan, Barcelona, Tokyo, Beijing, Chennai, Kuala Lumpur, Sydney and Melbourne, as well as at UN meetings in New York, Geneva, Paris and Mexico City.

In 2016, he organised the Dutch Australian Smart City Summit in the presence of Her Majesty Queen Máxima of the Netherlands and ministers and industry leaders from both countries.

In 2017 he was awarded the prestigious Charles Todd Medal for services to the telecommunications industry.